Soot Issue on Royal Princess Aft Balconies -- Update April 2018

[WetHen]

Hi, All! We are just back from our cruise, and I promised a report regarding the aft balcony soot issue. . .

We sailed on the Royal Princess in R-732 (deluxe balcony) to the Eastern Caribbean, 9 April 2018. I love the outdoors, so we chose this room for the large balcony,but I doubt we'd choose the same cabin location again, at least on this ship.

Cruise was great overall, but I'll try to be extra-picky here, just to provide info.

So, the mixed reviewregarding aft balcony:

 

Pros

• Balcony Size: Aft cabins have larger balconies than most others on the ship. All aft balconies are extra-wide, but many are also very deep. Ours was approximately 10x12. (One perk of the larger balcony is larger chairs, each with ottoman. Chairs recline, incidentally, although a few degrees short of flat.)
  
• Sound: We loved the sound of the wake. Some people won't. From our 14-floor cabin, the wake noise was loud but relaxing, like a white noise machine on high volume. I had no trouble falling asleep out there. :-) Excessive vibration was never an issue.
  
• Semi-Privacy: Great to have private outdoor space for sail-away. Plenty of room for three people to enjoy breakfast on a return sea day. Note, the aft cabins on Marina Deck sit directly below the bar and, therefore, have less privacy than lower decks. Our Riviera cabin was just one level lower, and although we could be seen from above, it was never intrusive. Some lower level aft balconies have partial overhangs and greater privacy.
  

Cons

• No Shade & No Breeze: Our deck had no overhang, and the sun baked us during the day -- especially as the ship headed east, with afternoon sun beating down. There was also ZERO breeze. (No joke, I had a tablecloth and my beach umbrella out while we were underway on the Atlantic.) Leaning out over the rail afforded a slight breeze, but in general our aft balcony was absolutely still, adding to the heat. This was a negative for us but may be a perk for others.
  
• Plume & Fumes: The ship's exhaust plume, obviously, trails to the rear while underway, meaning it hung directly overhead or slightly aside our balcony. The plume only slightly discolored the sky during the day, but at night, it considerably hazed over the sky and hindered star-gazing. Fumes were sometimes noticeable -- and when they were, smelled less like fuel than old soot (e.g., cleaning out the fireplace). The smoking deck was two floors above us, and we did get occasional whiffs of cigarettes but nothing overly obtrusive.
  
• SOOT: For us, soot was the primary fault of our aft balcony. (We read this had been an issue in the past but, understanding the problem had been mitigated during dry dock, took the chance and booked for the extra space.) I believe the issue has to some degree been lessened, but it has certainly not been altogether fixed. Let me emphasize that soot was not an overwhelming issue -- but, it was bad enough to make me reconsider our cabin choice. The details:
  
  • Soot fell on our aft balcony the entire time we headed to windward/east. It was not at all an issue on the return trip.
    
  • The soot mostly fell in small flecks, like cracker crumbs, although occasional chunks were the diameter of quarters.
    
  • When we remembered, it was easy enough to wipe down the furniture and rails and put towels on chairs. Our feet and slippers were perpetually filthy. (Before learning to wipe down the chair, I blackened a favorite skirt and white blouse. Neither cleaned on first wash, but I'll keep trying. Grumble.) Our room steward was very kind and did what he could to clean after we made the request. But clearly, this is a design issue, not a housekeeping miss.
    
  • If you are on the ship and want to see a "soot sample", pay attention to the public track on Sports Deck. Our balcony looked much the same way, although Sports Deck seemed to get a more regular swabbing.
    

Again, overall this was a great cruise – and all complaining above undertaken with intent to inform, rather than whine. :-) We would do the same itinerary again in a heartbeat. Next time, however, I'd look for a different cabin (avoiding aft) or ship (with larger standard balconies). Others may be giddily happy aft, with the heat, sun, and extra space. Happy sailing!

[IECalCruiser]

Thanks for the update. Too bad that Princess has not been able to fully address the soot issue.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[mllewis48]

Thanks for the update. Too bad that Princess has not been able to fully address the soot issue.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

 

We’re on Baja Deck Aft Cabin this December for a Holiday Cruise, hope the soot holds off so we can enjoy without issues.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for your report.....:):):)

Bob

[mthomp5]

Thank you for your report on the Royal aft balcony, I would prefer a balcony with no soot. Regardless of how little soot might fall, a little is more than I would want. So this is good to know.

[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for sharing. Pictures don’t lie. All that soot would make my wife crazy. :eek:

Tony

[Thrak]

Many thanks for the review and the pictures. I know this used to be a massive problem but was under the impression it had been fully mitigated. Obviously I was mistaken. It's good to have actual pictures and first hand evidence.

[prairiesailor]

We were on the Regal Princess April 1 - 8 with an aft cabin D728 & had the soot problem as well. Identified it to cabin steward who did his best but it was a constant problem. Also identified it to Guest Relations & had a pair of shorts cleaned at no cost. From picture posted the problem appeared worse on our balcony. Soot was also on the floor of balcony so it got tracked into cabin. Alfred

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[capriccio]

We had similar issues with soot and the resulting dirty cabin carpets on our December 2013 cruise in D727 (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1956349). It is a shame that it is still an issue. Since then we've done 20 day B2B (2015) and 25 day B2B (last October/November) cruises in Royal Princess mini-suites and enjoyed it much more even with the small balconies - at least we could use them - and our carpeting didn't look disgusting!

[EMS8]

We were on Royal Princess last month in R734 and I can confirm what WetHen has said. There was soot, but it wasn't a major problem. The room steward cleaned and washed down the balcony every day.

[Shoalwater]

We had soot on the aft balcony aboard Pacific Princess. Seems like a general problem of solids being ejected and depending on size, weight and ship/wind speeds, falling to earth where they will.

[TracieABD]

I have been in aft suites twice on the Royal. There was very little soot either time, especially on a Med cruise.

 

I will be on the Regal next month. I wonder if they corrected this for the Regal and the Majestic with satisfaction.

[azbirdmom]

Thanks for your review. We experienced the same thing on our cruise in an aft suite on Aloha deck on the Royal a couple years ago. I had to put towels on the chaises before sitting on them, otherwise my clothes would be sooty. Our cabin steward put hand towels down by both of the sliding doors so we could wipe our feet and not soil the carpeting when coming back into the cabin. We had done that once already and the towels were his solution to the problem. I did take pictures of some of the chunks of soot too. I love the view back there as well as the wraparound balcony but wouldn't book back there again.

[srpilo]

Thanks for your report....

 

Bob

Bob, Royal aft threads like this must bring back some bad memories :*

 

 

Sorry I couldn't resist :cool::):cool:

Pete

[rockdoctor]

We’re on Baja Deck Aft Cabin this December for a Holiday Cruise, hope the soot holds off so we can enjoy without issues.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

You will be OK. B and D decks have an overhang. On our recent 3 week cruise on the Royal we only had occasional soot on the banister.

[DrivesLikeMario]

Thanks for the very thorough review!

[dmwnc1959]

I still smile every time I see that annotated aft Royal Princess picture in Post 1. Do you realize it’s been almost five years? ;):cool:

[IECalCruiser]

I still smile every time I see that annotated aft Royal Princess picture in Post 1. Do you realize it’s been almost five years? ;)[emoji41]

Dave, How time flies! We were on the Regal in the Med in 2014 but, with her repo to the West Coast, our first time on the Royal will be next spring on a coastal. Hope everything is well with you.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[dmwnc1959]

Dave, How time flies! We were on the Regal in the Med in 2014 but, with her repo to the West Coast, our first time on the Royal will be next spring on a coastal. Hope everything is well with you.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Hi Brian,

 

Health issues again. Royal Princess is a fine ship and the Coastal sounds like a great trip. Would love to do another B2B on her some day.

 

Sad to hear soot issues are still on issue on her. Don’t think they’ll ever “fix” that, though. The wings were supposed to help that, then the exhaust extensions. Didn’t they put in scrubbers? What’s next?

[luvtoocruz]

Does anyone have pictures or comments on the deluxe premium balcony on Deck 10 Caribe or Deck 9 Dolphin.  This would be aft at back of ship facing the wake.  Size of balcony, soot problems.    Thank you.

[Eddie4Paws]

I had Cabin D720, premium aft on the Royal Princess during the January 5, 2019 sailing. The balcony is huge.  Larger than the cabins above & below the Dolphin deck.  Definitely larger than Caribe.  There were 2 chairs/foot rest and a round table.  It could have easily held 2 chaise loungers, too. There was partial shade.  I was very excited about having this aft balcony because of the view however I wouldn’t get an aft balcony again. 

The soot was present. I brought pool towels down to my cabin and covered the chairs.  I wouldn’t go on the balcony bare footed because the bottom of my feet got dirty.  I would leave the shoes by the balcony door so I wouldn’t track the soot into the cabin.  My room steward, Jose, never wiped down the chairs.  The balcony had no breeze, even when at sea. In port it was hot.  I didn’t let the soot ruin my cruise.  I worked around it. Also, I have a battery operated fan that I used while sitting on the balcony. As a single the cruise cost me way too much- $2800.  As I wrote, I won’t do it again.  Live and learn. 

[Eddie4Paws]

4 hours ago, luvtoocruz said:

Does anyone have pictures or comments on the deluxe premium balcony on Deck 10 Caribe or Deck 9 Dolphin.  This would be aft at back of ship facing the wake.  Size of balcony, soot problems.    Thank you.

 

[Colo Cruiser]

Thats too bad.

Nothing has changed since the Royal left the shipyard.    😡

Had the same issue for almost 1 month on the Royal in an aft corner suite.

It was bad.

[Eddie4Paws]

9 minutes ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Thats too bad.

Nothing has changed since the Royal left the shipyard.    😡

Had the same issue for almost 1 month on the Royal in an aft corner suite.

It was bad.

It was nasty but I wasn’t going to let it ruin my cruise.  They’re aware of the problem because a met was put by the interior balcony door for me to wipe my feet/shoes. I wasn’t going to walk through the cabin tracking soot through it. 

[Colo Cruiser]

2 minutes ago, Eddie4Paws said:

It was nasty but I wasn’t going to let it ruin my cruise.  They’re aware of the problem because a met was put by the interior balcony door for me to wipe my feet/shoes. I wasn’t going to walk through the cabin tracking soot through it. 

The room steward is unprepared and can't do a good job cleaning it because he does not have the tools/cleaning materials/time.

He is already overloaded with cabins to take care of.

Deck cleaning at that level is usually handled by the deck crew/bosun over seen by the Staff Captain.